Composition for extinguishing fires



JEAN MARIE RAYMOND, OF PARIS, FRANCE, AssIeNoE 'ro FRANCIS eoRDoN BATES,or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMPOSITION FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES.

sPEcIrIcArIoN forming as 'of Letters Patent no. 600,802, dated March 15,I898. Application filed August 11, 1896- Serial No. 602,432. specimens.)

To all whom it'may concern:

Be it known that I, JEAN MARIE RAYMOND, chemist, a citizen of theRepublic of France, residin gin Paris,France,have invented an Im- 5proved Composition for Extinguishing Fires, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to an improved method of extinguishing fires anda composi-fi tion therefor. IO To find the first recorded discoveryconcerning fireproof substances and fire-extinguishers it is necessaryto revert to Gay-Lussac, who, in 1821, revealed the results of hisstudies relative to rendering objects uninflammable.

the following is of great importance: The combustible gases disengagedby the heat should be mixed in a s'ufiicientl'y strong pro portion withother gases not easily combustible,'so as to render the former no longerinflammable. This is the principle which has been followed by those whosince that date have invented or discovered liquid chemical preparationswhich are thrown on a fire for 2 5 the purpose of extinguishing it.Almost all have decided on the use of volatile incon1- Hithertosolutions of ammoniacal salts of the'o'ne part and bicarbonateoisoda,com:

0 bined with sulfuric acid, tartaric acid, &c., of the other part arethe only ones which have afiorded good results, nitrogen andcarbonicacid gas being recognized as the gases most powerful againstfire.

\Vithout wishing to dilate more fully upon or to criticise the variousother preparations for extinguishing fire,'I will point out theincentives and the results of my personal labors.

I have .had experience with an apparatus which allows mixing andthrowing in any Among certain other features proportionate quantity anyliquid with water under pressure,(forming the subject of United StatesPatent No. 5i7,7 25, dated October 8, 1895,) and being certain of theeffective working of this apparatus I consider that the preparation of apowerful extinguisher which could be thrown with water would render signal service in combatting flames, while at the same timeincreasing theextinctive power of the water, and I have carefully carried outexperiments proving the theories which I have established.

Like my predecessors I have considered that I ought to use ammoniacalproducts; but my choice is more particularly fixed upon two of thesesalts-amm onium carbonate and ammonium chlorid, which appear to me -tobe the most ellic'aciousf "To these I add ahhy drous sodium carbonateand borate of soda. By mixing these substances in 'diderent proportions,which I have long studied, and by' means of special operations I obtaina solution of great extinguishing power. Used as a ten-per-cent.solution-4). 6., ton parts with ninety parts of watermy solution is veryeffective and rapidly extinguishes fire. How ever, I wish to go farther,and giving my attention to means for obtaining the immediate extinctionof burning light oils and benzins, which has hitherto been impossible ina way other than by the almost impracticable method of sufiocating theflame by sand,earth, &c., and for'insuring the uninflammability of theseoils after their extinction, I have come to the conclusion that the bestcourse to follow'to attain these ends is the employment of a compositionhereinafter described and claimed .and in the manner defined.After'repeated and numerous trials-*I-have' decided on the instantaneoussaponification of these substances, the result of this saponi-- ficationinsuring the extinction of the oils and their subsequentuninfiammability. The solutionof the problem was not easy, the alkaliesnot directly 'saponifying the oils. For 5 I this purpose I in the' firstplace determined to use caustic soda'. Afterward I worked to 1 make theessences saponifiable by mixing them with a substance' possessingthisfpropj erty, so that I might obtain in some 'degree 'x'oo -fattysubstances and heavy oils, in which ,guisher, (solution being cent.strength,) in fifteen seconds.

- tinguished.

their subarquent saponification. The substance wliiv h has given me thebest results is oleic acid, which is first" thrown on the infiamed oi],mingles with it, and renders it capable ofj immediate saponification bythe throwing on of a mixture-of the above extinguisher with water.Nevertheless I reserve the righ-t'toi use other substances, such asoleic acid predominates.

I have ascertained the following from actual experiment: Four liters ofbenzin or four liters of mineral oil have been poured by halves into twocement vessels or containers and lighted at the same moment. Thecombustion of the liquid in one-receptacle lasted fully ten minutes,giving forth smoky flames of considerable height. The total extinctionof the liquid in the other receptacle was caused by my process, usingthe before-mentioned patented apparatus and my extinof athirty-five-per- I afterward tried in vain to relight the liquid so ex-It was entirely'uninfiammable. This interesting result has determined meto publish my process and as a preliminary to protect my invention bythis application for patent.

The following is the formula which I generally use, the quantities beingslightly variable: water,one thousand parts; borate of soda, forty tosixty; carbonate of soda, (anhydrous) eighty to one hundred and twenty;'caustic soda, one hundred and fifty to two hundred; ammonium carbonate,seventy-five to one hundred; ammonium chlorid, two hundred to twohundred and eighty; oleic acid, in any desired quantity, according tothe danger which is to be guarded against or the ;i1n-

portance or the nature of the fire to be overcome.

' The amount of oleic acid employed may vary from ten to twenty-five percent. of the volume of oil or benzin to be treated.

As an instance of an effective embodiment of my invention I may statethat I have added to ten liters of benzin of medium density from two totwo and one-half liters of oleic acid, and after intimately mixing thesame have thrown onto this mixture the following solution: water, twentyliters; extinguishing compound, before described, three to four liters,with the result that in a few seconds a soft soap was produced which wasabsolutely uninfiammable.

It appears that benzin, petroleum, or de' rived essences form in theoleic acid added to them a product capable of undergoing saponification,whereas without'this addition they are not capable of being saponified.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent 1. The within-described fire-extinguishing compound, thesame consisting of a solution in water of borate and carbonate of soda,and chlorid and carbonate of ammonium.

2. The within-described fire-extinguishing I compound, the sameconsisting of a solution in water of borate and carbonate of soda,-caustic soda and ammonium carb'onateand chlorid.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JEAN MARIE RAYMOND.

lVitnesses:

LEON FRANOKEN,

EDWARD P. MA LEAN.

